A lack of discipline by the Barrie Colts came with a price Friday night in Guelph.
The host Storm made sure to cash in, scoring all three of its goals on the power play to defeat the Colts, 3-1, at the Sleeman Centre.
The Barrie penalty kill has had its share of struggles early this season, but it was hard to fault the unit on this night.
Barrie (4-4) handed Guelph nine opportunities with the man advantage, including a pair of five-on-three chances that the Storm capitalized on that proved to be the difference in the game.
“Unfortunately, we took a lot of penalties and that’s not the easiest game to play for everybody, and it kind of kills the momentum,” said Colts forward Zach Wigle, who gave the Colts a 1-0 lead early in the second period. “I think that’s something we definitely got to work on.”
After giving up the three goals on nine chances, Barrie’s penalty kill has sunk to 19th overall with a 72.2 efficiency rate. Ahead of only the Erie Otters in the OHL.
But Colts head coach Marty Williamson was not blaming this one on his specialty teams. Instead, a lack of cool at certain times cost the Colts.
“I thought we killed penalties really well,” said Williamson. “We didn’t kill five-on-threes, but they’re pretty difficult to kill. We gave up two five-on-three goals, but I thought we played pretty well.
“I didn’t like the penalties that we took, a mouthing penalty and a punch to the head. They’re dumb penalties.”
The Colts' run to the penalty box started early, with Roenick Jodoin drawing a double minor for checking from behind just 1:20 into the game.
Barrie was shorthanded two other times before the period ended, making it hard to get anything going. While they held the Storm to just six shots in a scoreless opening frame, the Colts put the puck on net just once.
“With the four-minute penalty to start the game we had to kill that and then had to kill another one, and that took a lot of punch out of us,” said Williamson. “I didn’t get to play a lot of my guys early in the game, so it was tough getting their legs going.
“Again, we killed really well, but (the penalties) kind of took the flow out of the game.”
Up 1-0, the Colts would run into penalty trouble again at 9:19 of the second when Beau Jelsma was handed an unsportsmanlike penalty and Eduard Sale was sent off for tripping.
The Storm (5-2) would capitalize twice, with Michael Buchinger scoring on the two-man advantage and then Vilmer Alriksson potting what proved to be the winner 1:26 later with the Storm on a five-on-four advantage.
Max Namestnikov would seal the game with under five minutes remaining with Guelph on another five-on-three.
“That was the difference in the game,” Williamson said of the lack of discipline. “That’s what you have to learn. It’s easy to mouth off or punch a guy in the head. It’s tough to win in this league and that’s the fine line between winning or losing.”
Williamson thought his club battled well the rest of the way against a Guelph team that is among the favourites in the Western Conference.
The head coach was proud of how his stood in there with Guelph and played a “heck of a game.”
“This was like a playoff game. Everybody was battling for every inch,” he said. “It was a hard-fought game, so for the most part, I was pretty happy with a lot of things. We received a great goaltending performance by (Ben West) and there were some positive signs with our young players too.
“This was the first kind of game they had seen like this, where every inch of the ice was contested.”
The line combination of Wigle between Chris Grisolia and rookie Shamar Moses had another strong game. All strong on the forecheck, the three pressed most of the night.
Wigle’s third of the season came when he fired the puck from the corner, and it went off the side of Brayden Gillespie’s pad and in.
“I think honestly we just all kind of put our head down and work,” Wigle said of the line’s strengths. “There’s really no odd man out in terms of one guy staying high or anything like that. When we do get the puck in, and we do get pucks moving down low, it looks really good.”
The Colts weekend doesn’t get any easier, capping off a three-in-three weekend set at home Saturday night against the Sudbury Wolves.
The Wolves, considered by many the favourites in the Eastern Conference, are coming off a 4-3 loss on home ice last night to the Flint Firebirds.
Already with an offence led by top NHL prospects David Goyette and Quentin Musty, the Wolves added another top gun earlier this week when Slovakian import and St. Louis Blues 2023 10th overall selection Dalibor Dvorsky decided to join the club.
Dvorsky didn’t wait long to contribute, scoring in his OHL debut against Flint last night.
“They’re a handful,” Williamson said. “They’re picked to be the top team in the east, so again coming off a game like this I think it prepares us for a game like that. Where we got to battle every inch. For our young guys, it’s good to get a feel for a three-in-three, it’s what our league is about.
“It’s all experiences and they’re going to pay off down the road for us.”
Game time tonight at Sadlon Arena is 7:30 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Guelph outshot Barrie 29-21. . . The Colts power play was 0-for-5. . . Forwards Endo Meir and Bode Stewart returned to the lineup. Cooper Matthews was a scratch for the first time this season. . . Sale was held pointless and has now gone pointless in four out of his last five games.
Banner image via Sam Hossack/Barrie Colts
